Scofflaws
by AuspiciousLeader
Summary: The criminal called 'Grigori' is the most powerful bootlegger in Death City, however no one has ever seen their face. The last person anyone would suspect to be the notorious kingpin is Maka Albarn. As she rules the city from behind a mask, Maka's empire is threatened by the coming of a rival gang, Arachnophobia. Submitted for Resbang 2014.
1. Chapter 1

Black*Star was known for many things. He was known for being a loud person and an even louder drunk. He was known for making stone-cold Maka Albarn crack a smile on occasion. He was known for his powerful position within Spartoi, the reigning gang of Death City. He was known for being chased by the terrifying "Brooklyn Devil" after pranking her and living to tell the tale.

He was known for being deadly when his friends were threatened.

Which was why everyone, whether they knew who he was or not, parted like oil to water when he walked by. Not that Black*Star took any notice. His mind was set only on getting to the rest of the gang as quickly as possible, and planning a retaliation for Arachnophobia's latest raid. His feet stomped the sidewalk quicker as he neared the club. Turning the corner, he continued into the dark alley until he found the door that marked the entrance. The muffled sounds of smooth jazz made its way out onto the alley. Without so much as a second glance, the men guarding the entrance let him pass, his electric blue hair the only identification needed.

Around him, patrons mingled and socialized, their chatter only serving as background noise. Anyone who didn't have a drink was too busy dancing. Even in his blood lust he could feel the hungry eyes of the women follow him as he made his way across the room. Normally he would have basked in the attention, in the sensation of not being in the middle of the room but still being in the forefront of everyone's minds. If this was another time, he would have found a dame and let her praise him under the dim bar lights. But tonight he was on a warpath. Tonight, he had only annoyance for the hungry stares. Soul and Maka seemed to notice his change in attitude as he approached their table.

It wasn't uncommon to find them in Shibusen, even if they were two of the most wanted people in the city. Nonetheless, they took pleasure in their lives when they could. Their table was well hidden in the back of the club, where it was unlikely to be spotted by anyone unless they were looking for it. Only certain people from the gang would occasionally join them. Under the dull lights Black*Star could see that Liz and Harvar had joined them at the table. No doubt that Patti was off somewhere in the throngs of the crowd, dancing with an enthusiasm she usually reserved for fighting.

Soul had his arm around Maka's shoulder where she seemed perfectly content. Where before Black*Star would have teased them mercilessly, now he didn't even bat an eye. They had spotted him first, but it was Liz who realized that something was wrong.

"What happened?" she asked, instantly alert.

"Mosquito and his people raided one of our supply runs. We fought them off and managed to switch trucks. They chased the one Killik was driving in and made it into scrap metal."

For a moment, no one said anything, Maka's shoulders stiffening in shock. Killik had been with for the last two years, deciding to help with runs to support his twins, who were notorious for their tempers and nicknamed Fire and Thunder because of it. Originally a boxer, Maka had hired him on the spot, saying she liked a man that fought for what he cared for. He proved himself countless times, granting him access to the inner circle of Spartoi. No one could believe that he had been broughten down by Arachnophobia. They were stunned. The moment was brief, though, and the shock was quickly replaced by anger.

"How is he?" she asked, trembling hands the only thing that belied her calm tone.

Black*Star averted his gaze. His previous anger had all but dissipated, replaced by a bitter taste in his mouth.

"Stein's working on him now, he lost a lot of blood. We won't know anything until he's out of surgery."

The moments that followed were the quietest that Black*Star had ever been. No one said anything, only looked at Maka as she sat there, rage rolling off her in waves.

"They're getting worse," Liz said after a moment. "This is the third time that Arachnophobia's targeted one of our runs. If this keeps up…."

She trailed off. There was no need to finish, they all knew what would happen if Arachnophobia continued their attacks.

In the last month, the attacks had suddenly escalated in violence. What before had been a quick and clean operation was turning into a dance with death every time they tried to bring any liquor into the city. With every passing day, a full-out war seemed more and more inevitable. Even their suppliers up north - most of the whiskey having come from Canada - seemed to be getting anxious at the fight for power. It wouldn't be long before Arachne made a move on them. Despite their power and resources, an assault on Arachnophobia would not be won without casualties.

Maka could feel everyone's eyes on her, waiting. Even Black*Star, who to this day refused to call her Boss, seemed to be expectant.

"How much booze did we get out?" Soul asked, breaking the silence.

Black*Star grimaced, unhappy at the subtle aversion.

"Enough to last us another two weeks. It would have been three, but Ox said that the feds were on their backs and it was all they could sneak over.

"Liz. I want you and Patti to go to Stein's first thing in the morning," Maka ordered.

"Check up on Kilik and keep the rest of us posted on his condition. Harvar, talk to the boys who were on the run and find out why Arachnophobia knows about my supply runs. Black*Star, have Ox head over to Hiro's and see how the next shipment is coming."

She paused, and though her next words were mumbled, they all knew what she said.

"Find the person who did this to Kilik and bring them to me."

Everyone moved to go out, the evening brought to an early end. Liz went to inform Jackie, the bartender, of the evening's events. Jackie was not only the bartender, but also one of their main sources of information. If anyone breathed a word of the previous night's events, Jackie would have the team in the know by the time they ordered their next drink.

Soul, who had been silent throughout the entire exchange, looked at Maka and easily identified the fear through her mask of blatant anger.

They had both moved out of the booth and were heading towards the exit when Black*Star called out to them.

"There's something else you need to know." Whatever it was seemed to be weighing on his mind.

"What is it 'Star?" Maka asked.

"The guns. One of the guys who was with Kilik said they saw the guns that bitch's men were using. They were Tommies."

Soul let out a colorful expletive.

"It could be from any—" Black*Star began.

"We both know how unlikely that is," Maka interrupted.

No one wanted to say what they were all thinking.

"Soul, I need you to watch the office for me while I'm out tomorrow"

"Are you kidding me? Every cop in the city is looking for you and now a couple of idiotic...saps are out for your head too! Do you want to get yourself killed?!"

"Soul's right, Maka. You may have the cops fooled, but everyone knows you're connected to Spartoi one way or another. You're pushing your luck‒lay low for a while, and I'll go talk to Spirit," Black*Star interjected.

"There's no way in hell I'm staying in my office while Arachne's still breathing," Maka replied hotly.

Soul seemed close to pulling his hair out

"First you went all gun-ho on Noah, and now you want to go out when Arachnophobia is trying to pick us off the street? If you think I'm letting you out of my sight after what happened with Kilik then you're absolutely—"

"Right," Maka interrupted. "Right, because one of our own got hurt and none of us are going to be able to sit well with that and I need to know things if I want to keep it from happening again."

Soul looked incredulous, as if he were dealing with a child who simply didn't understand 'no.' Normally, Maka would have yelled at him about being able to protect herself and not being a child. Things were different now though, his fears weren't crazy. She would have to be careful if she wanted to protect herself.

"Come on, let's go home," she said, turning so that she couldn't see his worried expression.

They said their goodbyes to Black*Star, and left the speakeasy without another word. Arm in arm, they made their way to the dark alley that the bar's exit led to. They decided to walk the distance to her apartment instead of fighting the crowds for a cab. When they reached her apartment he tugged her to him before she could go in.

"Don't do anything stupid tomorrow," he quietly pleaded.

"Soul, someone has to find out what's going on," she said.

"And that someone has to be you?" he challenged.

"I'm not going anywhere too dangerous. I'm just going to see—"

"Spirit, I know," he interrupted. "Just be careful out there. Kilik was just driving a truck and now he's in a hospital bed. Even if they don't know who you are, they know that you're connected to Spartoi and that's enough for them."

For one short second, his face showed the worry and fear that was eating at him, but as quickly as it came it was gone. Had he been with anyone else, the subtle change in expression would have gone unnoticed. But it was Maka he stood beside, who knew him better than anyone, and she had always been able to see right through him.

She sighed quietly. _Curse this incredibly stupid man and all the things he does_, she thought. _As if I was the one that he should be worried about._

Maka brushed her hand against his cheek and tried to tell him with her eyes that everything would be okay. It was an incredibly intimate gesture and Soul was surprised she'd initiated it in public. Despite his shock, however, he sighed into her hand and reached up to hold the fingers she had to his face.

"It'll be okay, you know. I can handle myself," Maka said quietly.

Soul pressed the knuckle of her hand to his lips and held it there for a while. Finally, he moved her hand away but didn't let go of it as he grinned.

"Yeah I know. Say hi to Spirit for me, and tell him sorry for banging his daughter."

She laughed. "Will do."


	2. Chapter 2

Stepping out into the crisp, cool night, Maka took a deep breath. She was planning on meeting her father later that evening but, for now, she had other things to do. She hadn't seen her mother in a long time.

She had made sure to take care of her other responsibilities earlier in the day. One such errand being to check up on Killik, who was still recuperating with Stein. His condition was improving, even though he was still bed ridden. Stein predicted that it would be another couple days before he would be able to get up, but had advised Maka he avoid any strenuous activity for at least another two weeks. He was, at the very least, conscious—though unable to do much more than inquire about how the twins were doing. Maka had reassured him profusely that Fire and Thunder were in the most capable hands and being watched 24/7. He seemed to relax after that and quickly returned to his drug-induced sleep. She left soon afterward, promising to bring around the twins later on in the week.

Her heart ached in her chest. What would she do if something happened to Kilik? If he never fully recovered? How would she face Fire and Thunder? Or any of her gang?

Maka breathed sharply and continued on to the cemetery. She couldn't face mama with a depressed attitude.

The cemetery was by far the best in the city. Once upon a time, her mother had been at the top of the city, alongside her father. When Kami paid the price for that power, Spirit made sure that she would be laid to rest in the best place money could buy. Maka still remembered the funeral. It had been a closed-casket ceremony, and she was both resentful and grateful for this fact. On one hand, she hadn't been able to see her mother's face one last time. On the other, somehow not seeing her face made it easier for her to believe that it wasn't her mother's body in that box.

She remembered pretending that it was just an empty casket when they lowered it into the ground, that her real mother was undercover in the seedy underbelly of the city, waiting until it was safe enough to return to her precious daughter. She was eighteen and her mother was the strongest person she'd known. Someone as good as her, someone as _strong_ as Kami Albarn, couldn't just be contained in a casket. At first it had worked, but the more time that went on, the harder it was to pretend.

The path that led up to her mother's grave was clearly marked, and the angel that stood by it was like a tall, stone guardian that stood watch.

"Hi, Mama," Maka started.

She looked at the now-weathered tombstone. Somehow, the slightly faded out stone made those four years' worth of grief come rushing back into her. Her chest constricted and Maka inhaled sharply.

"Ah-I'm sorry," she apologized, wiping at her eyes. "I know how much you hate it when I cry about these sort of things." she continued.

"Hated it," she quietly corrected herself.

"Things have been going pretty good for me since I last saw you," she heard herself lie. Even in death, she didn't want her mother to worry for her.

"I'm still pretty busy but luckily I got Soul to watch my back. Papa misses you too, he won't visit, though. He says it still hurts too much. But apparently it doesn't hurt him enough to stop screwing whichever flapper he fancies for the night," she added the last part a bit more bitterly than she would have liked.

She stood there for a moment thinking about what her mother would respond to all this.

"Sorry for not visiting more," she said after a moment.

In reality, it had been months since she'd last visited her mother‒roughly around the time she had started sleeping with Soul. Ever since then, most of her nights had been occupied. Maka tried not to blush at the thought, somewhat afraid that her mother would see right through her through.

"Ah-anyways," she coughed, "I'll try to come around more often. I'm sure Soul will be annoyed though. He's always complaining about my 'super-lame errands.' I swear, he probably thinks I'm on some faraway location, securing another source of booze." She laughed.

Silence reigned again.

She knew that it wasn't doing herself any favors coming here. Her father had told her years ago that she shouldn't be stuck in the past, that her Mama wouldn't have wanted it. She had shook with fury then, how dare he act like he knew what her Mama would have wanted? Maka _knew _what her mother would have wanted. She would have wanted to be alive, to have lungs full of breath and not dust. To sleep in a bed and not a coffin. She would have wanted to be _here _next to Maka so that she could help her with all the problems she was going through. She would have wanted to be anything but _gone. _At the end of her tirade, Maka didn't know whether she was talking about what her mother would have wanted, or what she wanted.

Soul had found her later on, crying in her office, her knees drawn to her chest and the bottle she had been drinking from shattered. He hadn't asked what was wrong, and she hadn't offered up the information. He merely sat by her, close enough so that he could wrap his arm around her, and let her cry into his shoulder.

After that night, he seemed to understand whenever she was missing her Mama without her even saying anything. It wasn't until much later, when she had already laid her soul and body bare to him, that she told him her reason for crying that night. They never brought it up again, Soul realizing how much of a sore subject it was for her, even years later. She didn't like talking about it, and it would have been ironic if Soul, of all people, didn't understand wanting to leave the past behind. Even now, when they had been seeing each other for months, she still hadn't told him where she went to on her 'secret errands.'

When he had initially raised the issue of her safety, claiming that 'as her bodyguard' he should know where she is, Black*Star had clapped him on the back (enough to make him wince) and assured him that, "The shortstack can take care of herself in this case."

Even if she'd promptly dented Black*Star's head, she _had been_ grateful to him for getting Soul off her back.

It wasn't that she didn't trust him, it was just that every time she came to the cemetery, she was suddenly reminded how unlikely it was that their story would have a happy ending.

She didn't like the reminder.

"I want to tell you about Soul, Mama," Maka heard herself say.

In truth, the reason she was there in the first place was because of Soul. Things were getting serious between them and, for once, Maka was stuck in a situation she knew nothing about. All of her past trysts had been just that‒trysts. There had been no emotional attachment and she usually broke it off when she felt the sex was interfering with her professional life. But this thing with Soul was...different.

"I know I said I'd never mix business with pleasure," she continued, blushing. "But somehow, I didn't think of Soul as either. He's just there, you know? I don't think I could attach a label to him if I tried."

They never really defined their relationship, He watched her back when everyone was trying to stab it, and she did the same. Sometimes after long days they danced to jazz alone in their apartments. During restless nights, she cried out his name as if it was everything good in this world and he groaned hers out like a prayer. They bickered endlessly and then played strip poker in the spirit of competition. He had held her when she was at her lowest and she had taken a bullet for him. Labels didn't really fit them.

"I guess I'm here because I don't know what to do at this point, Mama," she continued. "I don't like the ambiguity but there is so many more problems I have on my plate right now."

She was ranting now, she dimly realized.

"I have no idea what to do if it turns out that Tsubaki's actually crossed me. Arachnophobia seems hell bent on taking me out, which wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that they're willing to get rid of all my friends to get to me. The cops are out for me and I have too much ambiguity between myself and my extremely hot albino bodyguard," she finished rambling.

The breeze playing with the leaves in the trees was the only response she received. Maka sighed to the ground, frustrated at everything and everyone. Suddenly she was eighteen again, alone and sad and having no one but a gravestone to talk about her problems to. She ran a hand through her hair and reached into her coat pockets, pulling out a smoke. Despite her position in the underworld, Maka consciously tried not smoke, disliking the aftertaste. Only when she felt as if her head would explode did she feel the need to light one.

She froze when she felt her fingers brush the lighter. Maka took it out of her pockets, lightly tracing the initials carved into the side, _S.E_.

Once, after one of their usual romps, she'd laid next him, slightly drunk off the afterglow of sex, and asked him if his last name was really Eater.

"Nope," he'd said, tone seemingly nonchalant. "It's Evans. Soul Evans."

Maka had stared at him, surprised that she'd actually gotten a response. From her spot beside him, she'd seen his jaw tense, watching her reaction.

"Evans," she said, trying it out.

"Sounds a lot nicer coming from your pretty lips." he murmured into her hair.

Despite the fact that only minutes before she had been crying out his name from underneath him, Maka blushed at the comment–still unused to his compliments.

"I like 'Eater' better," she confessed to the crook of his neck, too embarrassed to say it to his face. "It suits you," she murmured.

"Glad to see you think so," Soul said smugly, pulling her close. He kissed the top of her head and soon after Maka was lulled to sleep by the sound of his heartbeat. They didn't comment further on his name.

He was going to be griping about his missing lighter later, Maka thought, shaking her head out of the memory.

She stared at the grave for a moment longer.

"I'll see you later, Mama," she murmured touching the stone as she passed. She had an appointment to keep.

For Maka, visiting her father fell somewhere in the middle on the list of "Things that must be done but will be done with the least amount of enthusiasm." Right up there with root canals and the monthly diplomatic meetings with the other bootleggers.

She didn't exactly hate it, but she never looked forward to it either. It was something she did out of necessity, although, Soul had argued there were plenty of other ways to get information.

Walking across the street onto a busy sidewalk she thought about how ironic her line of work was. Here she was distributing the vice that made men act in the same despicable way her father did. It didn't bother her anymore, it wasn't the drink that changed the man, but rather the drink that showed how men really were. She quickly made her way past the gents and to one of the nameless stores of the block.

The only thing that indicated that there was even some sort of establishment there was the golden-printed words on its windows. _Mjolnir General _it was supposed to advertise, but the paint had begun to fade a long time ago, and it was now difficult to make out.

Maka knew better than to try the front entrance and instead made her way to the back alley. As far as alleys went, it was a fairly nice one and Maka thanked her lucky stars at the lack of hungover (or still drunk) idiots. Now if only she could find the door she knew to be hidden among the scattered stacks of boxes.

The door was easy to miss if unless you knew it was there. The worn wooden entrance looked ready to break at a moment's notice yet was durable enough to stand Black*Star's tantrums. She knocked; four short knocks, two long, and another short. Every main distribution point on her turf had a knock assigned to them, as well as a man at every door and a spy at every corner, even if no one knew about that last part. Grigori wasn't the most powerful bootlegger in the city for being stupid.

The eye slot scraped roughly against the door and Maka met a pair of eyes that didn't belong; eyes too young to be hanging around this place. A moment later the door opened and Maka's suspicions were confirmed.

"Ah hello, Ms. Maka! It's nice to see you again. Ms. Marie said you would be stopping by. She's in the back doing inventory and told me to let you in when you knocked," said a voice too chipper to match the atmosphere of the establishment.

"Tsugumi what are you doing in a joint like this? Look at the time, you're supposed to be at the school yard," Maka reprimanded. "And where's Hiro? He's supposed to be manning the door tonight." She added.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Maka, but it's summer. There's no school in session right now. Besides, I think it's time I got myself a job even if it's just for now," the young girl responded. "Mr. Hiro just went to bathroom he should be back in a moment."

The two made their way towards the sound of clinking glasses and swinging jazz.

"If it makes you feel better, Ms. Marie usually has me wash dishes in the back while she serves at the bar," she added pleasantly, eager for her approval.

Tsugumi was always a strange topic for Maka. On one hand, Maka saw potential in her and knew with the right encouragement, Tsugumi could make it big in the city's underground. On the other hand, she wanted the chipper teen as far away from the clutches of corruption as possible. It didn't help that Tsugumi was best friends with the daughter of one of the city's most corrupted officials. Maka had often seen the two, usually accompanied by another short-haired brunette, walking and laughing together as they strolled through the park. Tsugumi's life was her own, but Maka would be damned if she didn't at the very least try and push her away from dangers when she could.

"Never mind then," Maka sighed, it was difficult to stay cross with someone as eager as Tsugumi.

They reached the main room and parted ways; Tsugumi to the back, presumably to resume her duties and Maka to the bar taking a seat as she waited for her father to arrive.

She ordered herself something to calm her nerves and contemplated for the umpteenth time what she was going to do about Arachnophobia.

The gang seemed to have just recently sprouted up from nowhere. When Maka looked into the records, however, she had found police reports of robberies and assaults with the same m.o. as Arachnophobia. Their activity dated all the way back to when Lord Death was still new to this town. So how does a gang of low-lives with no ambition become one of the top crime syndicates in the city? And seemingly overnight? There was no logic behind it. Unless they had someone helping them. And whoever it was possessed a great deal of money and power.

Lost in her thoughts she didn't notice her father's arrival until she felt his crushing embrace squeezing the life out of her.

"MMAAAKKKA MY DARLING ANGEL!" her father yelled as he continued to hug her from behind.

Every time she saw her father she was always met with a twinge of something. She had grown tired of hating him a long time ago, and decided that her mother would have wanted her to try to get along with him. But their meetings always left her in a mood afterwards, as if she was so used to years of being disgusted by him that she was unsure what to feel about him now.

For the moment, she was feeling suffocated. Groaning loudly, Maka proceeded to pry her father off her. "Papa, get off me! I can't breathe!" she complained.

Spirit, seemingly deaf to her objections, continued to exclaim his undying love for her, but at last released her and reached for her hand from his seat instead. Seeing her father calm down, she returned to her drink at the table and waited for him to ask the inevitable.

"So how's my baby girl? That stupid albino isn't still trying to corrupt you I hope." Spirit's tone took a drastic change from loving and sweet to murderous. It still surprised Maka how he was able to change moods so quickly.

"Papa, stop that. Soul is fine and yes, he is still hanging around me." She sighed, avoiding eye contact.

"That little brat better not try to get into my little angel's pants or he's going to be introduced to a new definition of pain."

Maka choked on her drink, remembering Soul's message for her father. Goddamn him. Not even with her and still causing her all sorts of problems. She would never in a million years tell her father about her and Soul's night time activities, she'd die of embarrassment. Spirit would no doubt go into a rage and hunt Soul down, all the while cursing him for stealing his darling angel's innocence. The entire city would be in the know that demon-eyed Soul "Eater" and goody shoes Maka Albarn were getting it on by nightfall. The only question then would be who would die first, her or Soul.

"Papa stop it. I didn't come here to talk about Soul," she said, desperate to change the topic.

Noticing her tone, Spirit's demeanor suddenly changed. He motioned for a drink. Maka was worried by what her father was going to say, but she needed to know everything if she was to protect Soul. The bartender came by to refill Maka's drink, giving Spirit a glass before leaving. Neither said anything, each drinking their own poison, until Maka couldn't wait any longer.

"Is it true?" she asked.

For all his years and difficult experiences, Spirit still found it difficult to meet Maka's eyes when she asked him in that voice.

"Yes." he said to the glass.

They both stared at their drinks, as if the answers to their troubles were somewhere in the amber liquid. Maka was speechless, she didn't want to believe that her best friend had betrayed her, but now it was staring at her right in the face.

"Are you _sure_?" she demanded.

"There was a run last week, Arachnophobia made a move as usual. Me and Stein caught one of their goons and treated him good. He told us that all their Tommie's were from Camellia," Spirit answered.

Maka stared ahead, refusing to look at her father. She didn't want him to see the look of complete dejection on her face.

Camellia's bakery was one of the best in town. But behind the sugar cookies and banana bread loaves was one of the most dangerous gun suppliers on this side of the country. Maka remembered when Tsubaki had inherited it from her father only a short 3 years ago. She had been so afraid, so worried that she would ruin the family name. Maka remembered how despite her fear, and the scorn of everyone else in company, she stepped up to the challenge and in just a few short months was able to increase the company's revenue by 20%. It might have helped that Maka bought enough guns for her small army and Black*Star ate enough pastries to _feed _a small army.

But despite any dissatisfaction (and even contempt) that many of the shareholders had for a female chairman, none could argue that Tsubaki had brought Camellia industries back from the brink of bankruptcy.

Another perk that came with having a mob boss for a best friend is that when you have a gun company, all competition disappeared. It was because of Maka's connections and power that Camellia's became the main gun supplier in the city. That also meant that when a rival gang told you that they were getting guns from said company, it was unlikely that they were wrong.

"He could have been lying, darling," Spirit interrupted Maka's thoughts.

"For all we know Arachne could have a mole in there and poor Tsubaki's just being duped," he tried to reassure her.

They both knew how unlikely that was. Maka wanted to believe in her friend just as much as anyone else but the facts said otherwise. She knew that she would have to confront Tsubaki and possibly even take care of her. She tried to remember the last time she had heard from her and found out that it had been 2 weeks ago, when they were getting ready to head for Shibusen. They had been talking in the parlor when the phone suddenly rang. When Maka answered, the speaker had been looking for Tsubaki. Something had happened at the warehouse and Tsubaki had to excuse herself.

"There's something else," her father added reluctantly.

_What else could there possibly be?_ Maka thought. In the last 24 hours she had just been told that one of her friends was fighting for his life and another had most likely betrayed her, how could there be anything else to add on?

She looked at her father to continue, skeptical.

"Giriko's out," he said.

Maka felt her blood run cold. She felt herself disconnect from everything and remembered the last time she had seen Giriko. It had been his rampage that had initially brought her into contact with Soul. Under Black*Star's advice, she had gone to seek out the notorious guns-for-hire Soul "Eater." Going to him with the job to get rid of Giriko, Soul had accepted, saying that he had been aiming to kill that sucker for a while. Despite his and Maka's skill combined, they were still no match. So, they settled for second best, and arranged for the police to be at the right place at the right time for once. With help from Kid, they made sure that Giriko stayed in the system.

"H-how?! Kid made sure that he would stay in the system for a long time. We bought every official on this side of the river! How the _hell_ did they let him out?" Maka was yelling, she realized, and the patrons around her had turned to look.

In her anger, she had stood up and the eyes of the entire establishment had followed the action. She couldn't stop her hands from shaking. Maka took a long drink, the liquor burning as it went down her throat, and sat down.

Spirit tried to console her, "There's nothing we could have done, sweetie. He applied for early release and all of the officials hadn't paid attention to him in so long. By the time they realized who it was, he had slipped through the cracks."

Maka tried to think clearly. If Giriko was out then he was going to go after the person who put him in jail in the first place. The sudden image of Soul lying in a hospital bed, unresponsive, came into her mind. There was only two people that Giriko has seen that night, herself and Soul. Soul was the most identifiable person in the city and it wasn't exactly hidden that he worked for Grigori. She had to find some way to get the heat off him.

"Papa." Maka whispered, "How much does he know?"

Spirit looked at his daughter, her changed demeanor making him clench his jaws.

"He's been asking around for Eater." He growled. "He knows that it was Grigori that set the hit on him but Eater was the one who got him in the slammer. He keeps asking around for the bimbo who was with Eater that night, but no one knows anything. People say that he's going for both your heads. He doesn't know who Grigori is, but he knows Eater's connected."

Spirit looked at Maka with a face that could only be described as pleading.

"Maka, I know I don't have any right to say this but, please be careful. I don't know what I would do if I lost you. Stay closer to Soul, he's a bastard but even your old man recognizes a strong partnership when he sees one." he said.

Maka sat blinking for a few seconds. This was the first time she could remember her father calling Soul by his name. If Spirit was telling her to stay close to Soul it meant that the threat was very real. She wasn't fooled by her power, she knew that if she wanted to get rid of Giriko she would need help.

"Papa, "she said, "I need to you to send a message for me."

The thing about being part of a gang, an aspect that no one ever mentions, is that there is a lot more paperwork involved than one is generally led to believe. Learning this very quickly was Soul, who had been forced to stay behind the evening Maka had gone to visit Spirit. He hated that he couldn't be there to make sure she was okay. With Arachnophobia's whereabouts unknown, every fiber in Soul's body was screaming at him to stay by Maka's side at all times. It didn't help that she was likely to go and fight Arachne headfirst as soon as the chance presented itself.

Soul sighed for the millionth time as he looked over the reports for the booze they were bringing in from Canada. He hated paperwork and Maka was well aware of that fact. Soul managed to concentrate for a full twenty minutes before he felt that he had earned himself a break.

The bustling sounds of Shibusen's patrons filled the air as Soul exited Maka's office. 'Office' being a highly liberal term‒it was more like a break room where all the books happened to be kept. Neither of them feared the room being found. If the club was ever raided, all the police would find is a room full of sales reports for Mjlonir General. It had been Maka's brilliant idea to use the general store as a front. She and Stein had devised a code that only certain people knew, using inventory forms from the market. If anyone asked about where the merchandise was, Marie would simply point them to the pantry.

It was genius. Between Stein's certification as a doctor and Marie's ties in Canada, they were in business for at least the next ten years. It was brilliant and all completely Maka.

As Soul walked to the bar he heard someone guffaw loudly and saw that Black*Star had made his way next to him.

"Ha! I told pigtails that you wouldn't last more than half an hour in that broom closet," he gloated.

"If I have to sign one more paper, I'm going to hang myself with my own neck tie." Soul groaned.

"What's the matter? Maka got you house sitting now? I thought you'd be out there hunting down the bastard that tried to take out Killik." Though he was laughing, Soul noticed the strain on his voice.

Black*Star slammed his glass on the bar and motioned for a refill. In truth, Soul _had _wanted to go out and hunt the bastard who hurt his friend, but with Maka visiting Spirit, he had wanted to be there when she returned. He still didn't even know why he had allowed himself to be hounded into staying. He was a cold-blooded killer, goddammit. But Maka had used those eyes on him, the ones that she used to get what she wanted, and he had been helpless.

"Eater."

Soul looked up to see that Jackie had made her way over to refill Black*Star's drink.

A somewhat austere woman, Jackie had always been wary of Soul. She didn't trust his past and always replied to him with curt answers. Soul didn't care one way or another, Jackie served him beer and kept her comments to herself, that was all he needed. Only now, Jackie was initiating conversation with him, something that had never happened before.

"Dupré," he responded, raising his eyebrows. "How can I help you?"

"Word's going around that you're looking for information on Arachnophobia," she stated.

Word _was_ going around. Word had been going around for the last four months, ever since they had first targeted Spartoi's booze. There was a handsome reward for anyone who was willing to loosen their lips to the right person. Jackie had always been one of Maka's main sources of information. As a bartender, she heard and saw everything. Either by eavesdropping or from the source itself. Everyone was always willing to tell their woes to the bartender, especially after their third shot.

Soul looked at her. It wasn't like Jackie to go to him with information. Usually she would tell Maka after closing time. The fact that she was overlooking her aversion of Soul spoke volumes of the type of information she had.

"Has said word mentioned what's going to happen if we're fed false information?" Soul asked.

It was unlikely that Jackie was a traitor but no one would ever consider Tsubaki a traitor either and there they were getting ready to confront her the following day. It had nothing to do with trust anymore.

Jackie narrowed her eyes. 

"Cut the crap, Eater. Out of all of us, you're the last person to be talking about trustworthiness," she spat. "Now do you want the information or not?"

"Now, now ladies," Black*Star said. "Let's not get testy. Soul, you know that Jackie's info has saved your ass on more than one occasion."

He had that shit-eating grin on his face and Soul felt very tempted to punch it.

"And Jackie," 'Star continued, "You know that if we're fed any false information that it'll be your ass that needs saving."

Black*Star still had a smile on his face only replaced with a much crueler version.

"Beat it, _Blake_, or I'll cut you off. I don't take well to being threatened in my own bar," Jackie hmphed. But the message had been made clear.

"Now are you two knuckleheads gonna hear it or do you wanna feel like big scary bootleggers some more?" she asked

"Lay it on us Jack mah-man," Black*Star responded gleefully, all threatening smiles gone.

Jacqueline began to wipe down the counter.

"I got a source that tells me where they came from," she started, capturing both of their attention. "Story goes that the main gal, Arachne, used to be part of the Witches."

"Bullshit!" Black*Star roared. "The Witches haven't taken a new member since Asura. Everyone knows tha—ouch. What the hell Jaks?"

At the interruption, Jackie had taken the rag she had been using to clean the counter and began to smack him with it.

"Quit interrupting boy. This chick was part of Witches since _before_ Asura. As in, one of the original members before."

Soul chuckled at Black*Star's predicament and turned his head back to Jackie.

"Anyways," she continued, "Arachne was pretty strong but was double-crossing Maaba with Asura."

"Wait so you mean that this chick was _screwing _Asura?!"

One beer bottle to the head later and 'Star was finished interrupting Jackie for the rest of the night. Soul whistled at the huge bump that was already forming on Black*Star's head.

"_As I was saying,_" Jackie seethed, "Arachne had a thing for Asura, though she liked his power more than anything else, and tried to take Maaba's turf with him. We all know how that went, and afterwards the chick laid low for a while. No one really knows what she did while she was gone but word is that she's back now and got herself some idiots to follow her. She and Maaba's got some real beef and there's a one way car ride with Arachne's name written all over it."

Soul pondered this for a moment. Arachnophobia was no rookie and it would explain how they got some of their power, they already knew all the tricks to the game. But that still wouldn't explain how they were able to get that much fire power.

"How do you know all this?" Black*Star asked. "This type of info isn't the type of thing even a drunk bastard would spill."

Jackie visibly reddened.

"T-that's none of your business, you blue-haired brat! You act as if I have no friends outside of Spartoi!" she exclaimed.

Soul and 'Star raised their eyebrows. It was the first time either of them had ever seen Jackie be anything but stoic. Her outburst alone spoke volumes of the type of methods she'd used to obtain the information. Soul suspected that it had something to do with the pink-haired flapper who had been visiting the bar for the last week.

He didn't let it bother him. It didn't matter who gave it as long as it was reliable information.

"And I don't suppose your little _friend _has any idea what Arachne's next moved is?" Soul asked seriously.

Jackie sobered quickly, appearing to grow annoyed when she thought about his question-as if she had a sour taste in her mouth.

"That bitch is out for power, that much is sure," she eventually responded. "Her mark for now seems to be Maaba but it wouldn't surprise me if she had her eyes on bigger fish."

The only person who didn't react to the news was Star, who was too busy picking at his ears to realize the gravity of the situation.

"So she's out for our heads, big deal. You act as if we didn't know that already," he remarked.

Soul stared at his watch. Half past eleven. Maka would be back from her visit with Spirit by now, and would be looking for him at their apartment. Swallowing his drink in one gulp, he stood up.

"Thanks for the info, Jackie. I'll make sure you get something nice for your trouble." Soul said. "Even if it wasn't any trouble at all," he finished slyly.

"Beat it, Eater," she responded, voice venomous.

Soul merely laughed and walked out, leaving her to deal with Black*Star.


	3. Chapter 3

"What we need is a way to get into contact with Tsubaki." Black*Star said, frustrated.

"She'll clear it all up and we can get back to focusing on taking down Arachnophobia."

They were all sitting in the den of Shibusen, after Maka had called an emergency council. Liz, Soul, Black*Star, Patti, and even Kid, who was usually busy, sat around Maka as they discussed what to do with the information obtained by Spirit. Jackie was upstairs, attending the bar as usual. No one said anything about Killik's empty seat, or Harvar silently occupying Tsubaki's usual spot.

"What we _need_ is a way to eliminate the threat," Liz said, voice emotionless and eyes cold.

Faster than anyone could register, Black*Star was up, knocking over his seat and hands slamming onto the table.

"No one is eliminating _anything_," he snarled, face only a short distance away from Liz, whose expression didn't change.

A quick flash and the cool metal of Liz's pistol pressed into 'Star's abdomen‒nobody was surprised at the reaction. The fact that no one had seen Liz actually draw it wasn't a surprise them either.

"Black*Star, sit down before she kills you," Kid called calmly from his seat.

Black*Star made no move to comply. Instead he continued to glare unflinchingly into Liz's eyes, who stared back just as threateningly. She showed no fear, having faced much worse in her life with much less.

"Blake," Maka said, voice dripping with authority. She ignored Black*Star's flinch from the use of his old name. "Sit down before I regret letting you in on this meeting."

Only now did Black*Star turn away from Liz to look at Maka, eyes angry and unsure how serious she was. Leaving now would mean not knowing what they planned to do about Tsubaki, and he couldn't stomach the idea of having her taken care of all because he hadn't been there to protest.

Soul reached up and grabbed 'Star's shoulder, pulling him back down into his seat. Black*Star let himself be seated but continued to glare at Liz, who just snarled in response. Only Patti, who had been stacking cards against each other, seemed oblivious to the tension in the room. The fact that Star's outburst had knocked over her previous tower only made her annoyed enough to flick a card at him, hitting Black*Star straight in the eye, and effectively making everyone in the room laugh. After seeing him clutch his eye in pain and futilely retaliate Patti's attack, even Liz cracked a smile.

"Alright, now that everyone's done trying to kill each other, why don't we focus on trying to figure out what we're actually going to do?" Kid said, effectively bringing the attention back to the situation at hand.

Maka relayed the conversation with her father, omitting only her note to the Witches (which she wouldn't mention until she knew how Maaba would respond) and Giriko's search for her. The last thing they needed to worry about was her identity. She did, however, mention Giriko's release. While the others went through varying degrees of rage and shock, Kid was unreactive, sitting serenely. He was also unaffected by the scowls aimed at him by Soul. Maka tried not roll her eyes. Soul undoubtedly blamed Kid, partly, for Giriko's release, if only because it had been Kid's connections that was supposed to keep him locked up.

Black*Star broke in to tell everyone about the new information on Arachne that Jackie had found, face visibly contorting in disgust when he talked about Arachne's pass romances with Asura.

While everyone spoke about what should be done about Arachne, Maka took the opportunity to see how Soul was taking the information of Giriko's release. On the outside, he seemed as if he wasn't even affected, his eyes cold but his face otherwise calm. Only the occasional clenching of his fists betrayed his mask. She knew that she would have to talk to him about Giriko eventually. She only hoped that he wouldn't be too irrational if she ever told him about Giriko's search for her identity.

"We all know that we can't take the risk of Tsubaki squealing to Arachnophobia," Harvar said, speaking for the first time all evening. Everyone else was instantly silent, almost shocked at the development. It wasn't that Harvar never spoke, it was just that he rarely said anything with as much conviction as he did then.

"We haven't heard anything from her in weeks, and Black*Star is turned away at the door every time he tries to see what's going on." he continued. "Now Spirit is telling us that Camellia's is supplying them with guns, we can't ignore the signs anymore."

No one seemed to be looking at the same place, each struggling to deal with the ramifications of labeling Tsubaki a traitor. Black*Star was clenching and unclenching his hands, and it seemed to be taking all of his willpower not to say something, but even he could see the improbability of Tsubaki being loyal at this point. Liz, who had suggested eliminating Tsubaki in the first place, seemed to be struggling with the truth as well, her expression pained.

It fell to Soul to speak. "So what are we going to do?"

Even with the gravity of situation, Maka still smiled a little on the inside, grateful for Soul's word choice. 'We' not 'you' acknowledging that even though she held the name Grigori, what happened with their gang was not on her shoulders alone. He seemed to know what she was feeling even before she did.

"Camellia's is the main supplier of guns this side of the Mississippi, to have them taken out would be losing a valuable ally if it turns out Tsubaki is innocent," Black*Star said, clinging to anything that might mean not having a hit placed on Tsubaki.

"We can't risk being wrong about this, Arachnophobia has already started warming up to the police. I've been holding them off for now, but it won't be long before the cops start a bidding war between the two of us," Kid argued.

"Tsubaki's been here since the beginning!" Black*Star exclaimed, unable to keep it in any longer. He shot a look to Soul, telling him that he wasn't going to hurt anyone, but still wanted to have his say.

"She's saved all our asses at least once over these years. There's no way she would betray us, and we can't go believing everything either, for all we know, Spirit could be right and she doesn't even know anything. She deserves the benefit of the doubt," he finished, turning to Maka to see her reaction.

The truth was, at this point, it would be stupid to think Tsubaki hadn't double crossed them. Maka knew that, but she also knew that Tsubaki would never do something like this, it wasn't like her. But how well did Maka really know Tsubaki? They hadn't met through any conventional means, and, even though Maka herself was a criminal, she hadn't been raised in the same criminal environment that Tsubaki had been. For all Maka knew, Tsubaki may have been trained to con people since she could sit up straight. It was even possible that she had been playing Maka since they'd first met.

But Maka's gut was still reluctant to label Tsubaki as anything but a friend.

"We'll check one more time," she decided aloud, looking at each of them to see how they would take the news. "If we're going to label Tsubaki as a person to be taken care of, it's going to be because we're one hundred percent certain that she's a traitor."

"So what are we going to do?" Soul asked, expectant.

"First things first, we have to worry about the log, then we'll deal with Tsubaki," Maka replied.

"Woah, woah what do you mean _deal?_ I thought you just said we were going to be one hundred percent sure. And what's this about a log?" Black*Star demanded.

It fell to Kid to answer.

"Black*Star think about it, how were we to keep track of whether or not we got the right amount of guns at each drop off? How would we keep record if any order came up short?" he questioned.

"Most bootleggers keep a book of who owes who what and how much. Maka and Tsubaki adopted the practice but instead kept record of ammo and weapons shipments, as well as their drop off points. That log has every one of our warehouses from here to Florida, and it's in Tsubaki's possession," Kid said, staring at Maka.

"How do we know she hasn't already handed it over to Arachne?" Harvar asked, curious at this turn of events.

"She wouldn't." It was Liz who spoke this time, staring at her gun as she cleaned it (a nervous habit she had yet to drop). "Think about it. If Tsu is working with Arachne, then she has to know not trust that bitch farther than she can throw her. She's smart enough to tell Arachne she knows the locations of all our warehouses but keep the actual book hidden incase Arachne ever wanted to bump her off."

Liz looked at Maka, who seemed to have come to the same conclusion.

"Tomorrow, me and Soul will go to the factory one more time. We're getting in there one way or another and getting that log. Even if she hasn't crossed us, there's no doubt that the factory is in Arachnophobia's sights and we'll have to cover all our bases."

"Why don't we just raid it now and get the book before they know we're looking for it?" Liz questioned.

"This isn't a smash and grab type of job," Soul said, "She probably has that book hidden somewhere only she knows."

Black*Star was looking at Maka, who had stiffened with what Soul said.

"Oi, pigtails, what do you know that's got you all stiff?" he barked, irritated with the way the conversation was turning.

Maka was still lost in her own thoughts that she didn't even notice the use of her old nickname.

"When we first went into business," she started. "We asked Stein to be Camellia's official trapman."

Harvar visibly groaned.

"Shit," Liz swore.

"That's an eloquent way of putting it," Kid muttered darkly.

Maka all but banged her head on the table, cursing her own paranoia.

It was no secret that Stein was the best in his trade as a doctor. But he had another talent, one not as openly known, an affinity for making furniture into puzzles. It had been Maka's mother who first suggested Stein make a desk with drawers that had false bottoms to store important documents. He had gone above and beyond, creating an extremely elaborate desk with more hidden crevices in it than actual drawers, while having its exterior remain utterly mundane. And so Stein became the most sought-out trapman in the state, if not country, among those who knew about it.

When she had started business with Tsubaki, she knew better than to trust the security of the company that could be easily bought out by competitors with wallets. Tsubaki had shared her sentiments, and the two had asked Stein to construct a desk with enough false bottom and hidden drawers, that it would take hours for someone to find unless they knew where to look.

"How big of a desk are we talking 'bout?" Soul asked, already dreading the answer.

"Enough to keep us busy all night if we don't know where it is. The book is usually kept behind a loose panel on the left of the desk, but who knows where she would have put it by now." Maka groaned.

"We could sneak in at night, I could use my godly powers to create a distraction, and you minions can sneak the desk onto a truck driven by Liz," Black*Star offered.

"Black*Star be reasonable," Kid snapped. "That place is bound to be crawling with workers and there's no way we could sneak out a desk the size of a couch without someone noticing."

Everyone else began shouting out possible ways to get the book out without losing any limbs.

"Mmm, why don't we just burn the damn thing? That way Arachnophobia can't figure out where the warehouses are and we can get Tsu in case she plans on sharing," Patti suggested boredly from her seat.

"Of course we-" Kid started but then stopped short.

They all considered the possibility, which, with every passing second, seemed to be less of a crazy idea and more of an actual plan. It was incredibly simple, by eliminating the book in the first place, there was no way that anyone else would know of their hideouts.

"This would only work assuming that Tsubaki hasn't told anyone else where the safe houses are," Harvar noted.

"She wouldn't do that," Liz said. "She knows that the moment she tells them everything, she doesn't have any worth and she becomes easily expendable. Right now her position is secure because they've been able to get some of our runs, but pretty soon she'll be out of the loop and won't be able to give them that type of information anymore. She'll need a new way to make herself valuable."

No one could argue with her logic.

"Then how do we get rid of it?" Kid asked skeptically.

At this Patti perked up considerably, a sort of manic grin spreading on her face.

"Oh, I think I can help you out there," Patti said, her eyes visibly darkening.

After the plan was announced, Maka stared at the pages on the table for a very long time.

They had worked out the plan fairly easily after Patti had announced she knew how to destroy the desk with them from a fair distance away. It would be a quick operation. Black*Star and Liz would create a distraction by the entrance, guarding it against anyone who tried to stop them. Meanwhile, Soul and Maka would go inside, watching Patti's back as she set up the 'totally-awesome-and-huge-but-totally-safe-and-yes-symmetrical-bomb.' It had been difficult to convince Black*Star to stay outside, he had wanted to come and personally set up the bomb in case they ran into Tsubaki. Only when Maka threaten to lock him in a room with Excalibur, did Black*Star concede to staying out of the factory itself.

The other's got to work quickly, Patti off to find the materials for her bomb, Liz to get maps of the area surrounding the factory, and Soul to help Kid with the logistics of the plan. Black*Star was off sulking in the corner, cleaning his knives and guns so he wouldn't feel useless. Everyone else let him clean theirs as well-the last thing they needed was their guns jamming tomorrow. Since Maka was the only one who had been in the factory before, it was up to her to test the accuracy of the blueprints Kid had acquired.

It was well into the night when Maka started to feel her eyelids droop. She hadn't slept properly since before Killik, and it was showing.

"You look like hell," Soul said, noticing the drink in her hand.

"Says the insomniac albino,' she shot back, grimacing only slightly at the drinks burn.

"Scotch isn't going to keep you from keeling over," he chided.

"They only have instant coffee here," she complained. "Besides, it helps me focus."

"You've been staring at the plans for the last hour. Focus any more and I'm pretty sure they'll get intimidated," he said.

"I just want to make sure everything's in order," she responded.

Soul let out a derisive snort at that.

"Please," he scoffed, "You have _Kid _in charge. You really think he'd be able to go to sleep if everything wasn't in order?"

He had her there.

Still, she couldn't help but feel helpless at the way things had escalated. What had originally been a small plan, had quickly evolved to a full-scale operation. She really didn't know what she had been planning on originally, but now with Tsubaki's loyalty almost undoubtedly gone, she would have to confront the other woman sooner or later. Even if they didn't come into contact with her this time around, it wouldn't be long before Tsubaki would be forced to take a car ride.

"Everyone needs to know you're okay for tomorrow, Maka," Soul continued. He tried not to make it obvious that by everyone he meant predominantly him.

"Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?" Maka snapped, drinking from her glass again.

"Maka," he said, voice far too soft for her to lie. "None of us wanted it to come to this."

"I know." She said it softly.

"We don't need to do this, you know. We can have someone else take care of this," he offered.

He knew she would never consider it, it wasn't in her nature to let others carry out her hits. Once, in the early hours of the morning, after having slept together earlier, she confessed to him that she hated having others kill for her. She said that if she had to judge someone too dangerous to live, she wanted to be the one to carry it out. He never told her, but he fell in love with her just a little bit more than. He would have told her it now, but he doubted it's what she wanted to hear when her principles were about to make her kill her best friend.

"We live by the knife and gun, we die by the knife and gun," she said, answering his unspoken question.

How many times had she been told that over the years? How many times had her mother heard it before it inevitably came true? How many more times would she be forced to both say and hear it before it become true for her?

She finally let Soul call her cab, making him promise to be home as soon as Kid allowed him.

Now sitting in her living room, Maka glared at the telephone, as if it was responsible for all her issues. She had been calling Tsubaki occasionally for the last two weeks, ever since she missed their usual gatherings at Shibusen. No one had answered, not even her secretary. In her ignorance, Maka thought that something with the bakery had come up, which happened every now and then. Usually it was just a late report or something equally as trivial and Tsubaki would be back after a day or two, apologetic for worrying them.

Even before she had met with her father, Maka was still holding on to the naive hope that her absence was due to something with her business. It wasn't unusual that something more serious had come up, like a damaged delivery, and Tsubaki would be forced to stay in her office and attend to the matter personally. In the past, however, if Tsubaki was to be absent for more than two days, she would call Maka so as to not worry her. The silence that Maka had been experiencing for the last few weeks only seemed to taunt her.

Picking up the receiver, Maka felt something akin to nervousness in her stomach. The fact that they hadn't heard anything from her only intensified the fear that Tsu was working for Arachne.

"Operator, give me Windrow 5-0-7-9," Maka said, voice a little too strained to sound polite.

"One moment please," answered a monotone voice.

The ringing seem to be excruciating slow and with every passing second, Maka felt dread at the realization that Tsu was probably not going to pick up again. She almost hung up when a familiar voice said, "Hello?"

It was Tsu's voice but it also wasn't. It was strained, as if she had spent too many hours saying nothing.

"Maka?" the voice said again, "Is that you?"

"It's me," she heard herself say. She hadn't really been expecting anyone to answer, and now that she had, she didn't know what to say. Suddenly, she remembered why she was calling.

"Tsubaki, where have you been? Black*Star's been trying to talk to you for a week now and is turned away at the door. He would have busted in there if Soul hadn't been walking by! I know that you have your company to run but you also have friends who were worried about you. Everyone's thinking that something serious has come up and none of know how to get to you when you won't answer the phone." Maka hadn't realized how worried she'd been for her friends until now.

"Ah, I'm sorry, Maka. I've been really busy with things over here." Her voice was too tense to be reassuring.

"Listen, Tsu, there's some really bad things that have been going on here." Maka said seriously.

"There's a lot of questions about you that need answers and it's best if you're here to answer them."

She was careful to keep her voice neutral, the plan relied on her not suspecting that they knew of her betrayal.

"Ah, _gomen _Maka. I've just been really busy and completely forgot about the parties. I'll be back soon and I promise I'll explain to you why I've been absent." Tsubaki said in the same tone.

Something was wrong. Tsubaki rarely fell back into Japanese, she had been through too many experiences at the hands of "Nativists" to speak her language freely. Years of practice had kept her accent hidden, enough so that most people didn't even know of her heritage. It was safer this way, she had told Maka. Only when she was too worried, too stressed, did she fail to hold back her native tongue.

"Tsubaki are you sick?" Maka asked, worry back in full force.

Suddenly, the health of her friend seemed to overshadow all doubts of her loyalty. In retrospect it was stupid of her, but Black*Star had been right in one aspect, she had been there for them all these years. Even know, when all evidence pointed to her being a back-stabbing cheat, Maka found it hard to _not_ care about her friend.

"Ah, yes. I've had a bit of a, um, well a bit of a cold lately. Luckily it's mostly passed by now. I'm so sorry to have worried you," she said.

The last part was perhaps the only thing she said that even sounded vaguely like the Tsubaki Maka knew.

"Hmm, that's nice to hear," she heard herself say, careful with her tone.

"It's nice to hear from you. I'll be sure to keep in touch, Maka," Tsubaki breathed.

The click from the receiver announced the end of the conversation. Maka stood there, staring at the phone again. It felt like everything had changed, but nothing really had. Tsubaki's loyalty was still in question, and the plan was still on.

Deciding that she was being silly, Maka went up to bed for a nap. They would all need their strength for tomorrow, and Maka had been running on stubbornness alone ever since Killik was injured. It didn't help that whenever she and Soul got home the last thing on her mind was sleep.

Maka was conflicted, something was obviously wrong, but what could she do with this information? Bringing it to the attention of the other would only derail them at this point from the mission. It was hard enough for all of them to be marching into a friend's territory, with the intent to hurt her if they came across her, if she entered doubts into their minds now and her gut was wrong, it could only result in dangerous complications. Besides, what did she have to go on? All she had was the idea that something _might_ be wrong because of Tsubaki's word choice. Whether she liked it or not, Maka had to go into the factory tomorrow with the assumption that Tsubaki was the enemy. With that in mind, she closed her eyes, trusting Soul to call if she was needed.


	4. Chapter 4

There had been an argument over when they should carry out their plan. Black*Star had opted for the night, where they could easily blend into the shadows. That would have easily won out had this been any other location, but it was Camellia's gun factory; all of the real business was done after hours. Security was twice as tight at night than in the day, when civilians came in to work and shipped out the baked goods.

Plus, Kid had later added, no one would be expecting an assault during daylight. Eventually they decided to go for late in the afternoon, during rush hour so that they could easily slip into the crowds if need be. There was no fear of them getting stuck in the streets. The only thing scarier than Liz in person, was Liz on wheels. She would be able to weave them out of traffic and in the clear faster than anyone else could. The time also meant there would be less workers, most of them on their way out.

Maka had slept for only an hour when Soul had climbed in next to her for a few hours of sleep himself. Both were too tired for their usual nighttime endeavors and instead slept soundly. When they woke up that morning, much earlier than usual thanks to Kid calling for a status report, they took the opportunity to release stress in a much more enjoyable way.

Hours later, they arrived to the factory and Soul actually had the gall to yawn, sulking at having been interrupted from their impromptu nap. It's not as if Maka could blame him. They had all stayed up to make sure every possibility was thought of and every 'what if' taken care of. Out of all of them, Soul had the worst sleeping habits. It was natural for him to be grouchy, even if it was already late in the afternoon.

"I can't believe we have to walk over, that's so uncool," Soul complained as they approached the factory, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Soul it's three hundred feet from the car to the building, it's not going to kill you," Maka reprimanded him.

He only groaned in response, mumbling something that sounded a lot like 'stupid superhuman games.'

Meanwhile, Patti skipped happily ahead, all but laughing as she patted her bag which contained the 'totally-awesome-and-huge-but-totally-safe-and-yes-symmetrical-bomb.' Soul was wisely standing as far away as he could, painfully aware of Patti's reputation for having itchy fingers. Not for the first time, he questioned their sanity in letting _Patti _be in charge of the explosives.

When they finally reached the factory, Liz and Black*Star were already in position. They stayed out of sight behind the building while waiting for them to make the first move. They had to wait only a moment before Black*Star walked up to the nearest guard and sucker punched him, enthusiastic about taking out his rage on somebody. Soul winced, glad to be a safe distance from 'Star's wrath.' While Liz took care of the workers who had run to help the guard, Maka, Patti, and Soul ran from their position and into the factory.

"Quick! Help those men out there! They're being beaten to death!" Maka yelled to the nearest employee.

Patti let out an impressive scream, yelling _help _and_ someone call the police, there's a madman beating people up outside._

Soul had to hand it to her, the girl knew how to act. He almost believed her himself.

"I'll go get the manager. Make sure that guy doesn't kill anyone," he snarled when another employee looked at him questioningly.

Kid was right in choosing this time to strike; the factory was mostly empty by now, so there was almost no one to take care of. They continued running, following Maka since she was the only one who had been there before. As they made their way to Tsubaki's office, Maka slowed down, her instincts alerting her that something was wrong.

"What is it?" Soul asked, noticing her flicking eyes.

"We should have run into someone by now. There's usually more guards here," she said.

"We timed this so that we would hit right when they were switching," he reminded her.

"Even if, we should have run into at least a couple of them by now," she said, her eyes narrowing.

They had reached the loading bay, which was usually bustling with people running around and fulfilling orders but now stood empty. The various gates were all closed but one. There should have at least been a couple of trucks, waiting to deliver the last shipment of the day.

"Patti, go pass the bay and take a left when you get to the corridor. Tsubaki's office is the last door on the right. You have five minutes before Black*Star takes care of all the people in the front and comes over to see what's taking so long."

Patti went off without a word, practically skipping. Maka didn't need to turn to see that Soul was at her side, scanning for dangers. It seemed innocent enough, but Maka couldn't shake the feeling that there was something wrong. They approached the door, careful not to make a sound.

When she reached the mouth of the entrance, she gasped. Inside were various crates, boxes, and machines used for shipping and packaging, but no employees. Instead, at its center lay Tsubaki, unmoving and pale, her wrists tied together with rope. Her dark hair spread out around her, like a pool of black ink.

"Shit," Soul swore as Maka ran towards Tsubaki.

She was careful not to move Tsubaki, unaware of the extent of her injuries. Her face was starting to bruise and she was breathing shallowly. A small trickle of blood was making its way down Tsubaki's cheek, inky and so wrong on her usually smiling face. There was no exchange of words, no hesitation between them, as they each took one of her arms and lifted her. They were almost to the entrance when Soul heard the familiar click of a safety being switched off.

"Oomph," Maka said as Soul pushed both her and Tsubaki behind a stack of crates.

Before she could say anything, a cascade of gunfire rained from behind. The world was too loud for her to focus on one thing. Soul was keeping her head down and desperately trying to keep Tsubaki from falling into the range of the gun shots.

"We have to get out of here!" she shouted over the noise. She was being obvious but she was too busy looking at her unconscious best friend to say anything.

"Wait for them to run out of ammo!" he shouted back

It took all of Maka's will not to smack him.

"_Run out of ammo_?! It's a fucking GUN FACTORY, Soul!" she yelled.

"It's a gun factory," she repeated, eyes widening in realization.

Soul seem to come to the same conclusion because without another word, they both reached over for the nearest crate. He thanked everything that was good in the world that that this set of crates hadn't been sealed off yet.

Maka grabbed the first thing her hands touched, which happened to be another tommy gun. She hated using them, preferring her much quieter pistol which was currently hidden in the waist of her pants. But her revolver would do nothing against the rain of bullets that had yet to cease.

She waited a moment, then, when the bullets finally stopped, she looked over and aimed for the figures. Soul was there to cover her as she fired at anything that moved. She clipped one in the shoulder and another in the leg. It didn't take long for the other side to return fire. They settled into a pattern. Aim, fire, duck. Cover while the other reloaded, aim, fire, duck.

Through the smell of smoke, Soul found it in himself to crack a grin. His blood was singing in his ears and the thrumming of the gun did little to calm his pounding heart. He glanced at Maka and found her in a similar situation, high off the adrenaline. She looked crazy, her pigtails swinging in rhythm with the bullets and eyes burning green embers. Even now, with the enemy clearly out for blood, Soul noticed that Maka was aiming to wound, not kill. If they could capture one of them, they could get information. She was fearless and strong and unflinching among the chaos. Soul felt his heart constrict in his chest, and he promised himself he would do everything in his power to make sure Maka's light never burned out. Tsubaki's pained groan reminded them both of their time constraints.

The realization, however, did little to change the fact that all they could do for the moment was try not to get their brains blown out. They needed a way out. How long had it been since they let Patti go? She must have reached the office by now. Hopefully she would know to abort the plan at the sound of gunshots.

A second later, the ceiling rumbled and Soul knew he was wrong. The men on the other side stared up, as if the building was about to give. Using the distraction, Maka fired, managing to take one down, the bullet lodging itself into the man's stomach. That did little; they still had no idea how many people they were up against.

"We're fucked," Soul said.

"Thanks, Captain Obvious," Maka snapped, irritated.

Tsubaki wasn't moving, they had no idea how many opponents they were facing, and gun factory or not, they didn't have an unlimited supply of ammo.

"Why don't you give it up, Eater?" an oily voice called out. "One way or another, this is gonna end with you bleeding," it taunted.

Soul stiffened at the sound of it.

"That's kind of rude dontcha think?" Soul called out, "You know my name but I don't know yours"

"Why don't you ask your little friend? She recognizes my voice, don't you, Maka dear?"

Soul turned to look at Maka, whose eyes had turned murderous.

"Medusa," she snarled.

Of course Soul had heard of Medusa, whose gang, the Gorgons, controlled a small part of Death City before Grigori came along. No one ever knew how it was done, but 'he' had wiped the Gorgons off the map. It was that eradication that had thrust Spartoi into the spotlight, making Grigori a legend. Soon after, all the rival gangs fell, and those left pledged allegiance, or at the least a truce, with Spartoi. Medusa had gone into hiding, never showing her face again until now.

"It's so nice to be remembered. You've been keeping bad company, Maka, Giriko's told me all about your little friend. Seems the idiot has a personal grudge against him," Medusa laughed. "Tell me, dear, how's Joe?"

Maka let out an angry cry and started firing in rapid succession again. Her rage burned and she wondered why everyone called it seeing red. She wasn't seeing red, she was seeing Joe, her godfather and friend, who died wrongfully because of her. She was seeing Marie, crying at the funeral over a closed casket. She was seeing her father, saying in a sad tone, _we live by the knife and gun, we die by the knife and gun_. Medusa was laughing over the chaos, delighted at the reaction. Maka was panting in her barely contained range, but she seemed to realize it was futile, especially since they had no idea how many people they were up against. They needed to do something and fast; Tsubaki wasn't looking good and she needed to get to Stein fast.

Suddenly, there was a new type of shout, and Soul could see from his spot that someone had just doubled over, clutching at his stomach.

"What the-" Soul heard before the tell-tale sound of fist connecting to stomach.

"What's taking you so long?!" Liz yelled, disarming another one and quickly dodging behind a pillar.

"Kinda busy trying not to get our brains blown out!" Soul responded.

"Well hurry the fu–oh shit," Liz swore, catching sight of Tsubaki.

The distant sound of sirens put an end of to the firing.

"It seems we've run out of time," Medusa said, slightly annoyed. "Until next time, Maka. Be sure to say hello to Stein for me," she called.

Maka could do nothing but watch as Medusa went out the back door, followed by the remaining two goons who hadn't been injured.

Liz ran to them from the pillar as soon as she deemed it safe and carried Tsubaki through the gates. Soul and Maka went ahead, looking for any lingering torpedoes. The sirens could be heard closer now, so they ran to the car that Kid had secured for them.

"Where's Black*Star?" Maka asked worriedly.

"He and Patti took a car to lead the cops off," Liz explained, climbing into the driver's seat.

The sudden image of Black*Star and Patti driving erratically all over the city made Maka smile, even if she'd have to deal with Kid complaining about the damage to the city later.

"Get us to Stein's, Liz," Soul said, seeing Tsubaki's pale complexion. "And fast."

"As if you had to ask," Liz responded, gunning it.

The journey to Stein's was a quiet one, neither of them trying to make the situation seem better than it was. They had called Black*Star as soon as they got to Stein's and from there waited. Liz had gone back shortly after she saw the Tsubaki was safe, wanting to check on Patti. Not 20 minutes after their phone call, Black*Star came in a rage demanding to see Tsubaki, and threatening to destroy anyone who got in his way. Tsubaki was still with Stein and it took both Maka and Soul to restrain him from breaking down the door.

If Black*Star was in a rage when Killik was injured, then now he was murderous. The worst part was when Maka had to explain why Tsubaki was in such a bad state. 'Star said nothing as she told him about the warehouse, the ambush, and the retreat. Some of it he already knew from his position outside. Maka knew that they were left alive for a reason. Arachne had been sending a message to them and Tsubaki was simply the messenger. _We know who you are, we know where you are, and we know how to hurt you._ She didn't just want to destroy Spartoi, she wanted to make an example out of them.

She hadn't felt this helpless in a long time

Black*Star took most of the information in silence, his hands shaking in rage.

"I told you," he sneered when she finished. "I fucking _told _you she wouldn't do that to us. We should have been helping her and now she's lying in that hospital bed because of us."

He stormed off quickly after, leaving Maka with the stinging words. It only took a few moments before she heard the sound of glass breaking and something pounding into the wall. She didn't even have to turn her head before Soul got up to take care of it.

Maka sighed and went back to check on Tsubaki.

She was resting now, her arms bandaged and her face gaunt in the dim light. The room was nowhere close to a hospital but the last thing any of them were going to do was take Tsubaki someplace public. If one thing was made clear by Arachnophobia, it was that they had their eyes everywhere. While Stein's lab was far from ideal, it was well supplied and isolated.

The lab was by no means a fortress, but it was sturdy enough to survive Stein's experiments. The room Tsubaki was in was usually reserved for when the scientist was too tired to go home. Maka didn't know why he didn't just live there already, since he hardly ever left his lab. In the beginning, Stein's patients would simply stay on the couch until they felt well enough to move. Ever since becoming the unofficial physician of Spartoi though, he and Marie had taken to creating a makeshift infirmary out of one of the many previously unoccupied rooms. This infirmary was currently occupied by Killik, who was now well enough to stand, although not for long.

The lab that Stein used was in the basement, underground where no one could hear the dull sound of explosions in the middle of the night. In addition to housing all his experiments, Stein used the room for treating the more serious wounds. The basement was somewhere you went when the gauze and booze wasn't enough to patch you up.

Maka shuddered, remembering the last time that she had been down there; it was after the fight with some of Noah's lackeys. While generally subpar to Maka's skills, a bullet had ricocheted and hit Soul in the shoulder, which made defense more difficult. She remembered holding onto his hand as Stein dug into his shoulder, a little too enthusiastically, searching for the bullet. It had lodged itself deep into his flesh and had taken weeks to heal‒but at least it _had_ healed. It was just a couple inches off from his back. What if she hadn't been there to take him to Stein? What if the bullet hadn't just been a couple inches off?

The smell of antiseptic was overwhelming and even now, nearly a year later, she still felt a pit in her stomach going down there. Seeing Tsubaki on that operating table was enough to remind Maka how in their line of work, happy endings were just a pipe dream.

"Please tell me you aren't thinking about that goddamn bullet again."

Maka jumped. Soul had calmed down Black*Star and left him with Stein, talking about Tsubaki's condition. Hopefully the scientist would be able to reassure him enough to avoid any more property damage.

"I'm not thinking about that goddamn bullet," she replied testily.

Soul walked over to her, hands in his pockets and shot her a look. Maka looked away. She had always hated reliving the past, but how could she not when it threatened to be her present circumstance every second of the day?

"You're lying, you know," he stated

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too. Look you're doing it again!" he scoffed

"You have no way of knowing that," she replied irritably

"Course I do." He was too smug for someone who had almost gotten killed.

"Look! There you go again see?" he continued. "Every time you lie, the right part of your lips quirks down."

Maka felt herself blush and decided to head to the kitchen before she did something stupid. The kitchen was in a somewhat cluttered state since Marie was busier than ever now with the store. She started to make herself a cup of coffee, Soul right behind her. In practiced movements, Soul took down two mugs and set them on the counter. Maka got out the sugar and Soul began the search for Stein's rustic coffee maker. They did this all in practiced silence.

Maka stared at the mug as Soul watched her, both ignorant to the fact that they were thinking the same thing.

"Worrying about it's not gonna do anything for anyone you know." He spoke quietly

She knew that, of course she knew that. But how could she _not _worry? Her best friend was almost beaten to death, her gang was in danger, and she had almost lost him only a few short hours ago. Soul knew there was no point in telling her not to worry, but he felt useless saying nothing.

She didn't respond but instead chose to intertwine her fingers with his. It was funny, there they were with a sword hanging over their heads and the possibility of death at every corner, and all Maka could think about was how nice it felt to have someone to hold her hand.

She thought about all she'd been doing the last few days, and how she refused to tell Soul about it under the pretense of secrecy. In reality, she was just worried about how he'd react. But, she argued with herself, they just got back from almost dying again. He had been willing to lay down his life for her, again. Soul at least deserved to know what was coming, she owed him that much. Bracing herself, Maka took a deep breath.

"I sent a message to the Witches,' she stated, trying to sound nonchalant.

"What?" he asked, eyes widening.

"I sent a message to the Witches, asking for support against Arachnophobia," she repeated.

"Why would you do that?" he seemed incredulous, "They trust us just as far as they can throw us and I trust them the same amount."

"We don't have much of choice here, Soul," she reminded him. "Somehow or another, they managed to get past Tsubaki, and now we have no idea of knowing how many of her guns Arachne took. We're going to need back up to get rid of her."

He hated when she was right.

"When were you planning on telling me this?" he questioned, looking annoyed and slightly hurt.

"I'm telling you now," Maka snapped.

Someone cleared their throat.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," Stein said.

They both broke away; Maka with a blush at having been caught arguing and Soul with an angry slouch.

"How's Tsubaki?" Maka said quickly before Stein said something else.

"As I was just telling Black*Star, she'll live. She has bruises and a few cracked ribs but she should be up and about in a few weeks. She should wake up in a couple hours but she's going to have quite the headache when she wakes up."

Maka turned away from him so that neither of the men could see her grief-stricken face. She moved to get the boiling water.

"What about her wrists?" Soul asked. "She was bleeding from them when we got to her."

"It's blood from chaffing. She didn't say much when you brought her to me, but from the looks of it I would say that she was handcuffed at some point, long enough to make her wrists bleed," Stein said. "Whoever was doing the beating knew what they were doing. Some of her internal organs are bruised but nothing serious enough to kill her. They knew where to hit to make it hurt the most but did nothing fatal. Whoever did this was an experienced fighter judging from the amount of force."

There was only one person she knew who fit the description.

"Giriko," Maka breathed

"Please tell me I didn't hear you say what I think you said," Soul groaned, feeling sick. "Please tell me that this Medusa bitch was bluffing when she said that she was in touch with Giriko."

"He got out, Soul. Of course he would get back into the swing of things. And he's out looking for me. It's only natural that he would align himself with the person who has a personal vendetta against us."

Maka quickly averted her eyes. She hoped Soul didn't notice how she said that Giriko was after her and not Grigori.

"Wait what do you mean he's after _you_?" Soul asked.

Shit.

"There's no way that he's after you, right Maka? Because he doesn't know who Grigori is. He's just after me because he thinks I have some connection to who Grigori is." He was quickly noticing her slip up.

Maka said nothing and set about to clean the mess. She walked pass Stein and went to the back, where she knew that Marie kept the broom.

"Maka? Maka!" Soul followed her.

She reached the supply closet where Soul promptly followed her into and shut the door, confronting her.

"Soul cut it out, Stein's gonna come check on us in a second, you know he will," she said, reaching for the light switch. In the flickering light, he seemed a lot less strong and a lot more vulnerable, it killed her to see him like this.

"Tell me," he started. "Tell me, that he doesn't know that you're Grigori."

He looked into her eyes, searching for some hint that his worst fear wasn't being recognized. She felt her heart twist at the expression. Curse the stupid muscle and all its stupid emotions. Curse it for making her want do nothing but lie to him so that she didn't have to see that terrified expression on Soul's face. She tried to turn away from him but he made her face him.

"Maka!"

"I don't know!" she exclaimed. She was in his face now, eyes alive and scorching.

"I-I don't know," she repeated. "The last time he saw me was the night we got him arrested. There's no way he could identify me though, it was too dark. Papa says that when he got out he started asking around, trying to find out more about Grigori and then started looking into me. Everyone seems to think that the way to get to Grigori is you and the way to get to you is me. But no one knew anything about Grigori and the most anyone knows about me is that I sometimes hang around Shibusen. Medusa knows me but not that I'm Grigori, but she's been out of the loop for so long, I have no idea what she knows."

Soul let her go and stared blankly somewhere behind her. To anyone else, he would have seemed stoic and non-reacting, but Maka knew that he was _seething _on the inside. She just had no idea whether he was angry at her or at the situation in general.

"How long have you known?" he quietly asked

Maka refused to meet his eyes, uncomfortable with how she couldn't seem to lie to him.

"This is the first time I've seen Medusa in years Soul," she said, lip curling in disgust at her name.

"Papa told me about Giriko when I met with him. When I heard he got out, I sent out word for someone to follow him. They told me what he was looking for, but there wasn't much they could find besides that. He was too paranoid and suspected he was being followed. Anya said that he was grasping at straws and everyone he tried talking to was smart enough to keep their mouths shut," she finished.

Without a word Soul left the closet, there was no question who he was mad at now.

Maka was still angrily cursing her situation in the closet, when Stein came to see where she'd gone.

"I don't suppose you plan on actually paying for all these patients you've been bringing me lately, eh Maka?" he asked, almost petulant.

"Sorry, Stein," she said pinching her nose. "I'll have Marie bake you a cake when I get out of here."

Stein breathed out through his nose, which Maka decided was as close to a laugh as she was going to get.

They made their way to the kitchen again, where Maka continued making the coffee.

"Your coffee maker is possessed," Maka commented, hating the silence.

"So I've been told," he responded. "You're father asked me to get a message to you. Maaba's agreed to help you with Arachnophobia." he added, as if commenting on the weather.

"Really?" she was genuinely surprised at this not-horrible turn of events. "That's great, we'll have Kid set up the meeting place and-"

"And Noah said he wanted in on an alliance too," Stein interrupted boredly.

There went that the not-horrible feeling. Maka groaned into her hands.

"Why would that he want an alliance now? We've been giving him wide berth for a while, especially after that last stunt he pulled," she added, remembering Soul's shoulder.

It had taken a lot not to go back for revenge after that, but Kid had convinced her that it was pointless.

"Mmm well who knows what's going on in that idiot's mind," Stein said, looking as if he'd very much like to find out.

"Does Soul know?" Maka asked, already knowing the answer.

"I may have mentioned it before he stormed off," he said, rather noncommittally. "He seemed pretty sore about something. What's the matter Maka, did you tell him the bank's closed?" he added with a leer.

"None of your beeswax," she said, cheeks pinking despite her best efforts. "Drink your java and stop being nosy." With that, Maka went off to check on Tsubaki.

"She's awake," Stein called out. "Black*Star came back while you two were having your little lover's quarrel. He's with her right now so make sure he hasn't mauled her."

If Maka was blushing before now she her face was steaming. Black*Star's relationship with Tsubaki had always been something that she'd known, but she didn't want to know the specifics any more than Black*Star wanted to know what she did with Soul after hours. She made sure to knock before opening the door.

From the side of the bed, Black*Star scowled, unhappy with something Tsubaki said. He glanced up motioned for her to shut the door. Whatever they had been talking about, they seemed done with the conversation for now.

"Oi, Maka," he said. "Where's Soul?"

"He went to see how everyone else is doing after the raid," Maka answered, knowing Soul was most likely back in Shibusen.

"I'd better go," he said, standing. "You two have a lot to talk about."

Maka could see the thinly concealed rage coming from him.

"What's the matter with him?" Maka asked as soon as they were alone. "Did you tell him he couldn't drink for a week or something?"

"Mmm he's just mad at the way things are," Tsubaki told her. "To be honest, I think he's glad that you came in so that he could excuse himself to go punch something without me seeing it."

"He knows it would upset you," Maka said.

She took the empty seat next Tsubaki and stared at her hands, unsure of where to start.

"Tsu, I'm so sorr-I should've-" Maka started. Her knuckles were white with the amount of force she was clenching her knuckles.

"Maka," Tsubaki told her in a patient tone, "You didn't know."

"That—that doesn't make it okay," she managed to get out through the lump that had formed in her throat.

"No, it doesn't," Tsubaki agreed. "But there wasn't a lot you _could_ do."

"I'm so sorry, Tsu," she whispered again, the guilt at what her friend had gone through making it difficult to say anything else.

"Black*Star's right, you know," she said. "We have a lot to talk about."

Tsubaki explained how she had returned to her office one evening to find that someone had tried break in. Security had arrived before she did but the crook had already left. The only thing damaged was the desk, put nothing was taken. She had suspected that they were after the log, though how they knew it existed she didn't know, and burned it the moment security left. She didn't know who had done it but it had seemed incredibly suspicious that the same day, Medusa had left a message with her secretary, for an invitation to visit her.

Tsubaki had gone alone to scope out the meeting place, a club called Snake Eyes. She met with Medusa, who had offered a handsome sum in exchange for information on Spartoi. Realizing her cover had been blown, she agreed, planning on feeding her false information. She needed Medusa to believe that she had betrayed them though, so she arranged for them to have a shipment of Tommies. Tsubaki had knowingly fed her false information, telling her that there was a warehouse off the coast where shipments came in from Canada. What she wasn't counting on was Medusa working with Arachnophobia. What she originally thought would take Medusa a week to find out, it took only a three days thanks to Arachne's resources.

For the last three days she had been kept prisoner in her office, beaten for her insolence and offered another chance to redeem herself, if she told them who was part of the inner circle of Spartoi. When she refused, they decided to use her as bait knowing that they'd come eventually.

At the end of her explanation, Maka understood Black*Star's murderous glare. She suddenly realized how lucky they were.

"How long were you waiting there?" she asked.

"About a day," Tsubaki said. "They kept usually seven guards around me, sometimes more. They would switch off every few hours."

"What about Medusa? Why was she there when we came?"

Even now, she could still hear Medusa's taunts.

"To gloat," Tsubaki said in a quiet fury. "At least that's what she told me. I think she was still hoping that I would give her some useful information before I was bumped off."

Maka could definitely understand why Black*Star needed to leave the room. She could barely keep herself from finding Medusa and making her pay. Suddenly, Maka came to the realization the Black*Star would be thinking the same thing.

"Don't worry," Tsubaki said, practically seeing the gears in Maka's head turn. "I made him promise to not go after her until we've regrouped. I want to get back at this bitch just as much as he does."

Maka smiled at that, promising revenge and so much more for Medusa.

"There's something else," Tsubaki added. "Arachnophobia and Gorgon are working together."

There was a beat a silence, then Maka indelicately swore, was there nothing that could go wrong?

"Horsefeathers." she repeated. "Are you sure?"

"When they kept me, I heard some of the guards talking about how Arachne and Medusa were connected. The whole reason why Medusa's back is because Arachne helped her get here."

Maka tried to process this information. Why would they team up together, when they had no ties, that she knew of, up until now?

"So what are we going to do?" Tsubaki asked.

In reality there was only one thing to do

"We're going to war" she said, mind already thinking of the plan.


	5. Chapter 5

The thing about having multiple people out for your head, Maka thought, is that when you have an overprotective albino shark as your–whatever Soul was, he'll do everything in his power to make sure you're safe. Even if that involves coming back after a dramatic exit to escort you home. Soul had left in a fury, and come back in one. If it wasn't for his seething aura, Maka might have teased him for being a drama queen.

Neither said anything on the taxi ride back. Black*Star had insisted on staying the night with Stein, if only to make sure Tsubaki wasn't experimented on. Tsubaki had seemed in higher spirits when Maka left, Black*Star's presence, however rambunctious, had gotten everyone's mind off the dangers for at least a short amount of time. By the time the sun set, Marie had arrived had gotten around to cooking. Using her responsibilities as an excuse, Maka had departed the lab before she became Marie's next victim. At least with Black*Star there, Maka didn't have to worry about anything hurting her friend. Black*Star would cut off his own arm before he let anything hurt Tsubaki, especially now that it turned out she was innocent after all.

Maka thought back to her conversation with Tsubaki the entire taxi ride back. If it was true what Tsubaki had heard, then it meant that Arachnophobia wasn't working alone. But why would Medusa, who had always worked with a small group, take a sudden interest in a crime organization? What motive did she have?

She considered telling Soul this new bit of information, but decided against it when he still refused to talk to her. _He's overreacting_, she told herself. So what if she didn't tell him about her meeting with Noah? He would have just protested, using Giriko's search for her as an excuse to not go, and nothing would be accomplished. But Tsubaki's words bounced in her head. She had never thought of her behavior as reckless, all she was doing was protecting her friends. _But_, she admitted to herself, _if it was Soul doing what I'm doing, I'd call him reckless_. She was being stubborn and she knew it, but the meeting with Noah was necessary. She had to find her allies where she could in the coming fight and Soul knew this too.

By the time they arrived, her resolve to go through with the meeting had only grown. She reached to open her own door but Soul had beaten her to it. Even when angry he made sure she was always in his field of vision, although he did so with a scowl on his face.

The door slammed, leaving the two of them alone. Soul wasted no time in going past her and pouring himself a drink. He downed his glass in one go and then poured himself another one. Maka walked over beside it and poured one for herself. Still, neither said anything. Maka couldn't remember the last time Soul had been this angry with her. Oh wait she could, the last time had been when she had taken a hit for him in the shoulder. She remembered getting yelled for doing something so reckless (again) and she had been too shocked at the angry tears, streaming down his face to defend her actions. She had never seen him cry before then, nor so angry. His eyes held the same dangerous glare, a storm held behind burgundy eyes. The only difference was the lack of tears.

It wasn't long before she couldn't take his silence any longer,

"Just say it already." Maka sighed.

Soul stared at his glass and put it down again.

"What do you want me to say?" he asked slowly.

"We both know that you don't want me going to meet with Noah," she reminded him.

"We both know it doesn't matter what I say," he replied bitterly. "You're always going to go ahead with whatever suicidal plan you think of no matter what anyone tells you."

She didn't expect to hear so much resentment in his voice. He was fuming now, his chest heaving, hands balled into fists. Maka felt her own anger rise up. Did he think he was doing this for kicks? Does he really think that she was only meeting up with Noah because she liked playing with fire?

They stared at each other, Soul glaring and Maka stubbornly refusing to back down. She felt like a child, having her decisions criticized and ridiculed. Who was he say she was being reckless?

"Is that what you think?" she hissed, green eyes venomous. "That I'm meeting with him so that I can get some kind of rush? Who the hell are you to tell me that I'm reckless? I'm trying to get rid of Arachne!"

"That's just it you're not!" Soul snapped, all pretense of calm gone.

"Every single thing that you've done since Arachnophobia came to power has almost gotten you killed! How are you supposed do anything with one foot in the graveyard?!"

"What about you then?" Maka growled "You were planning to go face Giriko, don't even try to deny it. You were going to face him in some warped sense of protecting me and get yourself killed."

"That's different and you know it."

"Is it?" Maka said disgusted. "So you get to go around and face a maniac in some gallant act of saving the damsel?"

Soul looked as if he wanted to protest but Maka continued before he could interrupt her.

"We'll guess what _Evans _I'm not some hopeless little girl for you to save," she finished.

"Dammit, Maka. How many times do I have to tell you? You're the boss, it's my job to protect you!"

"What so I'm supposed to twiddle my thumbs while you throw your life away for me? You're so eager to say I'm going to end up dead but don't even think about why I'm doing this."

"What is it then? Huh, Maka? What could possibly be so important that you decide that meeting up with the very person who, only a few years ago, was after your turf? And was willing to kill you to get it?" he sneered.

"For starters, you!" Maka yelled. "I don't have many options here, Soul! I have my men too scared to do their jobs right, the cops looking for a way to get my money, a homicidal bitch out for my business, and a sadistical hit man out for you―our heads! Is it really that much of stretch that I would looked for allies so I don't lose you?"

Her breathing came out in ragged puffs, the weeks of worry and stress making her voice shake. Angry tears made her eyesight fuzzy and Maka furiously wiped them away. Soul's eyes had changed, from furious to concerned. She wanted to kiss him and kill him because of that concern that shone in his eyes. She hadn't told him all of that so that he could worry about her.

Maka turned away, desperate to get away from his gaze and regain some of her dignity. Before she could even begin to walk away though, Soul grabbed her arm and pulled her to him. Strong arms encircled her and she took a shuddering breath, too tired to fight him. Her face was pressed into his chest and she felt her anger dissipate.

"Maka," he sighed, "you can't keep doing this. You're going to have to be careful if you want to protect everyone."

It wasn't about saving everyone, she thought, it was about saving him. He seemed to know what she was thinking.

"We're partners. We make decisions together," Soul said, ignoring the thrill in his stomach at his words.

"You're not going to lose me," he murmured into the top of her head.

"You can't promise me that," Maka whispered back.

And that was what kept her up at night. In their line of work, the only thing that was promised was the threat of being killed. Soul was the best hitman on this side of the world and even that wouldn't save him from Giriko's warpath. Soul said nothing and continued to hold her.

The next morning, Soul woke with the sun in his eyes and Maka in his arms. She lay blissfully at his side, exhausted from both the events of yesterday and last night's activities. So much of their relationship was based on urgency, on a chemistry that festered between them until they reacted. It burned inside them until they either released it by screaming at each other or making each other scream. Intimacy was something that they both didn't know how to approach, it seemed to be the one line they were both wary of crossing. Their mutual confession seemed to dissipate any boundaries. Soul tenderly kissed her like he's wanted to do for so long and Maka let herself. If their usual encounters were them arguing with their bodies, now they simply had a conversation.

He tried to keep this image ingrained in his brain, of both of them not worrying about anything.

The moment was ruined, however, by the sound of banging coming from below. Soul could identify Black*Star's knock anywhere, mostly because it was loud enough to wake the dead.

"Ugh," Maka groaned groggily. "Please tell me that is _not _who I think it is."

"Be thankful he's using the door," Soul said, "Last time he came in through the window."

"Luckily I wasn't here for that." she said, stretching and getting up.

"Where're you going?" he asked, reaching for her gams as she passed.

"Hush, Soul" she said, swatting his arms and reaching for her robe, "You know if we don't answer he'll just keep banging the door, or worse."

"Mmm but it's fun to annoy Black*Star," he offered, "Lord knows he does it often enough."

"You have a valid point," she seemed to consider letting Black*Star wait. "But we still have things to do today, so we'll have to annoy him another time."

Soul groaned but did get ready, although the process was slow. He was too busy enjoying the way the sunlight played with Maka's hair to get ready fast enough. By the time Maka was ready to open the door, Soul still couldn't find his socks.

"They're under the bed," Maka told him as she went down the stairs to let in the now impatient god.

Putting on the socks (which were right where she said they'd be), Soul felt his elation slightly dampen. He knew that his relationship with Maka still didn't have a clear label, but at least now she knew how much she meant to him. The fact that she returned his feelings was still something he couldn't believe. He had been prepared to be her lover and bodyguard, but the fact that she cared about him as _more_ than just that, made it difficult to stop smiling. Now, though, he was reminded of how easy it was to have it all taken away. Black*Star was here because they were to escort Maka to the meeting with Noah and the Witches. Maka was acting as Grigori's "representative."

Making his way to the car waiting for him, Soul couldn't help but think about the mixed feelings he had towards his lifestyle. Had he still been talking to his father, he has no doubt he would have been exiled for ruining the family name for running with bootleggers. Never mind that it was the same bootleggers that was supplying eggs like his father the booze for their elaborate parties. This lifestyle had gotten him to meet Maka but it was also what ultimately was threatening to take her away. Thinking about would do nothing for him now, he decided.

Sliding into the car next to Maka, Soul figured that if living by the knife and gun meant he would live next to her, it couldn't be that bad of a thing.

When they arrived to the meeting location, which was in neutral territory, right outside Death City's Police Department, they were greeted by Maaba.

How the elder mobster was still alive and kicking, Soul had no idea. She was accompanied by a stern-faced woman whose hair seemed to defy gravity, almost looking as if it were cat ears.

"It's nice to see you again, Maaba," Maka said, nodding her head in respect to the elder.

The old lady seemed to smile, though it was difficult to tell under the layers of clothing she wore. The woman at her side, seemed to regret coming in the first place. Her disgruntled expression did little too calm Soul's anxiety.

"You could have chosen a more elegant, meeting spot," she said disdainfully. "Maaba-sama should not have to meet in a rundown gambler's den."

"It's nice to see you too, Mafdet," Black*Star said, pointedly ignoring her complaints.

"This place is right outside the Police Station," Soul reminded her. "The last place Noah would think to start something is here."

Mafdet hmphed but said nothing more.

Maka, for her part, looked perfectly at ease, but Soul could see her nervousness behind her mask. She smiled when he squeezed her shoulder lightly, grateful for the reassurance.

The walked into the building, which had been a store at one point, but was not vacant. Opening the door to the room usually reserved for storage, Soul saw that their guests had already arrived.

A man, who Soul presumed was Noah, sat with his arms clasped together, as if he were praying. He had swirling tattoos that ran across the dark skin of his biceps, looking almost like snakes as they twined around his limbs. Over his dark, brown hair he wore a plaid cap, which covered most of his eyes. He analyzed them with cold detachment, as if they were merely insects.

"I thought I specifically said that I wanted to meet with the Grigori himself," was the first thing he said.

"I thought you were the one who wanted a meeting," Maka answered, using a tone that made it sound as if she was dealing with a child.

"First thing about dealing with Grigori," she added, voice saying clearly that she was there to talk business. "If you want something, you don't get to make the rules."

Soul couldn't help but grin, smug at how Maka was directing the conversation. It made him feel better that even though they had agreed to this meeting, she still didn't trust Noah. He could see 'Star in a similar position, trying not to laugh at the expression of a short-haired boy behind Noah. His mouth was curved in such a passionate frown, that Soul wondered if it was permanently stuck like that.

"Watch your kisser, kid, or you'll get it stuck like that," Black*Star couldn't help but add, addressing the boy.

"How dare you speak to Mr. Noah like that you-you rag a muffin scofflaws," he yelled.

"As opposed to what?" Soul scoffed. "A pair of outstanding citizens such as yourselves?"

"I think we can all agree our lives are anything but innocent. So why don't we cut the bullshit, and get down to business. Noah, I'm sure you've heard of Maaba, head of the Witches. This is Mafdet her bodyguard," Maka said, addressing the women at her side for the first time.

"I've heard of her," Noah responded, ignoring the petty arguments. "Question is, why is that old bat at _our_ meeting?"

"You will address Maaba-sama with respect or you will get nothing from this meeting and will be at the mercy of Arachnophobia," Mafdet said, face contorting in disgust.

"Alright, we'll go by your rules," Noah said looking bored with the results of the meetings.

"Gopher," he said, addressing the short-haired boy, "be respectful."

Gopher, who seemed unhappy with the order, nodded at the boy and did nothing but glare at the rest of them.

"Now," Noah said, talking to Maka, "What does Grigori want in exchange for this alliance?"

"There _is _no alliance," Maka responded, slightly seething, but face neutral. "What you get is a truce, in which both parties agree to not kill each other or target speakeasies in either person's territories, until the situation with Arachnophobia is dealt with. Any attacks from now will be dealt with the collective effort of those in the truce."

"What about the Witches?" Noah asked, accepting the terms without complaint.

"The Witches are already in an alliance with Spartoi, so we will respect the truce you have. However, if you wish to have any sort of association with us, you must go through Maaba-sama." Mafdet said

"Fair enough. What about Arachne, when do we deal with her?"

"A frontal assault on Arachnophobia and all their known members will be made at a later time," Maka said. "From now on, all runs made for hooch and goods will be protected by each other as soon as they enter the city. There are no questions about where the hooch came from, and the supply trucks will rendezvous in separate locations each time. At no point in time are warehouses, safe houses, or locations for speakeasies to be disclosed among any gang members. Any information leaked will result in instant nullification of the truce."

Soul looked at Noah, who seemed to be contemplating the terms.

"You're pretty smart for a moll. I bet you'd make a hell of bagman," he eventually said.

Maka gave a small smile, as if confronted with a very stupid child. Without any indication, she flicked on of Black*Star's throwing knives towards Noah, narrowly missing his head.

"I also make one hell of an enemy," she replied.


End file.
